Alright > many thanks to Gralhuk for altering this new gaming forum to my current email game with old gaming buddies.
I'm going to be storing all of our shared posts thus far, and hopefully move to this site for everything in the next few days.
We originally began this game with 9 players > yes 9 players!
Almost from the getgo, we lost one, and others soon followed > not surprising at all with so many players, but still...it kinda pissed me off.

This game began on August 19, 2018 and here we are a few months later and still haven't really gotten very far. Which is cool with me > I love building on character development and working in the setting.

I'll create a guest thread in case anyone viewing wants to post. I ask that you do not post in the other threads. Thanks.

Here is the end of the first group post, what I posted to all the potential players. I had forgotten I invited 13 to the game!

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Hail and well met, fellers! Are you ready to dig your old D&D books out of the closet and wipe the dust off them? Maybe roll some virtual polyhedrons...or even real ones? Do you have a few minutes every week (or every other week) to remember the thrill of adventure and imagination? If so, I'd like for you to join me in an email game of good ol' D&D. Here's the skinny:

Adventure Setting > the Forgotten Realms, specifically Sembia and the Sea of Fallen Stars.
Level & Edition > 4th level (maybe 5th depending on the # of players), and I plan on using portions of 1E, 2E, 3.5, and 5E...meaning, your character can be from your favorite edition of D&D!
Posting Rate > I plan on posting when I can, and with school starting back and other time commitments, I figure that will be at most, 1 post per week. If you can only post every other week, that works for me. Players tend to post more frequently when a new game begins, and then slow down over time.
Email vs. PbP (Play-By-Post) forum > In an email game, we can do pretty much whatever we want and do not have to adhere to forum rules. And there is no learning curve with online dice rollers, attaching pictures, etc > you just post in your email and it works! Now...if there is a strong desire to use a gaming forum, we certainly can go that route, and there are some great forums out there.
Length of Game > I'm using an adventure from Dungeon magazine and the game will run until you complete the adventure > I'm guessing about 4-6 months, give or take.
13 players...really? Well, I wanted to invite some of the best players I've ever gamed with and see how many would be able to join up. All of us have commitments that pull us in various directions and consume much of our free time. So, if you can't jump on board this time around, that's okay. Maybe you can join in the next time.

So...if you can join in, if you are able to help out Aunt Marla, here's what you do:
Post a reply to the introduction above IN CHARACTER and you are in. That simple. No need to roll up a character yet (or dig an old one out of the drawer). Just post a reply and that will let me know you want in. We can talk about character creation once I know more about who is going to play.
If you can't join up, send a reply ONLY to ME (i.e. do not "Reply All") > doesn't have to be a long explanation (although it can be), just a "Can't play this time around, dude. Thanks for the invite!" will suffice. Again, simple right?
If I don't hear back from you within a week (this time next Sunday morning, the 26th), I'll assume you are not interested. Okay? Okay.

Hey fellers!
It's the weekend and while I have about 5 irons in the fire, I'm going to do my best to get out a group post by Sunday night (probably while watching football). I am sorting through character sheets and will be contacting you individually about magic items, spells, feats, and such.

re: starting gold, you can roll whatever you start with at 1st level and then either continue with half that roll for subsequent levels, or you can just say by 4th level you've accumulated 400 gold through adventuring and such. That amount should be able to equip you sufficiently.

Also, your characters know each other, having either adventured together or wintered together in Yhaunn, so you're fairly comfortable around one another.

As for posting, try to limit your posts to a reply to my group post. If you wish to post private actions, post those directly to me and not to the entire group. Please don't assume that you can do whatever you wish in town. You can certainly visit different locales, offer to purchase things, and interact with the locals; just allow your DM to play along.
I'm not trying to squelch creativity; I want to keep things in some semblance of order. If there are several posts to the group which primarily concerns only your character, things can get confusing. I'm going to start numbering group posts > that will help you and me! So, when I post a group post, you can reply to that (or not). And then if you have other things you wish to do, check, explore, etc, post directly to me. Cool beans?

Let's see, what else...
Next weekend, I will be pretty much unplugged for Friday and Saturday > my son and I are traveling to Virginia to see Ozzy Osbourne on his "No More Tours 2" tour. Hoping for another great show from the "Prince of Darkness!"

That's about it for now.
Hope everyone has a great weekend; I'll see you in Yhaunn! Axe high!
~ Gary

Hey fellers > I've been able to get out a few posts this week. The group has three different things going on.
1/ Sent Post #4 > Preparations...At Least For Holen on Sept. 26 > even though this was a group post, I ended it with Dorian, Echo, and Holen going shopping > haven't heard back from Malcolm and Marc for actions.
2/ Back Door group > Grimmell, Septinius, Spades, & Vin are out back of Aunt Marla's and are having an encounter. Just sent Back Door #3 post. Haven't heard from Crafty in awhile...currently running Bosch as an NPC.
3/ Feng's plans > sent private post to William (today) per his response for Feng's actions. I really like some suggestions he's made.

Haven't heard any actions for Oliver (Chris) in a very long time...as far as I know he's still at Aunt Marla's.

I will be offline pretty much all weekend; may check emails on Sunday evening...if able. Let me know your actions for your character. More importantly, if I haven't heard from you in awhile, let me know if you wish to continue with the game.
And once again, I really appreciate all the questions and comments about the storm. We were very blessed. Thanks be to God!

Awful quiet around here. Only have 2-3 regular posters. One player has left the game, and a few more are likely to follow.
No worries about that > just let me know what you wish to do. I can only NPC a character for so long and then I will remove them from the game (one way or another 😇 ).

My gaming goals for the rest of the week:
Post for Holen, Echo, & Dorian > working on that today.
Back Door Post #5
Stats for NPC's
Waiting on reply from Feng
That's all for now.

Let me know, one way or another, if you are still invested in this game. No hard feelings if not.

Was able to get a post out today and get you guys away from Aunt Marla's (finally!) and into the adventure itself! I need to dole out some XP for everyone and I need to dole out some magic items...which I have talked about a lot, especially in the beginning of the game!I will continue to update the post list over on ORP (http://online-roleplaying.com/forums...lay.php?f=1944) where I am storing all of the group posts. Please visit and feel free to jump in and comment in the OOC thread. I know Johnny and Octavio have a membership on that forum.

Glad you are all still aboard this ship. The adventure really is a good one once we get along into it. Until then, we'll keep on keeping on with some character development and role-play action. So, here's wishing you are yours a very merry one and a happy new year! Hope you get to spend the holidays with family and good friends!

From Octavio:
yea, i get it, might be ok to switch off
i really liked my character though tabaxi eldritch knight so if you want to continue, re-start latter or set something else up i'd like to give the character a good run

From David:
Just let me know what you all decide. What about Malcolm and the others? I know Craft is out and at least one more (Oliver's player), but are there more? We had ten, but I only see five names left (including myself). Do the five names include everyone still in it?

Initially sent out 13 invites; had 9 players sign up and begin play.
Within the first 3 posts, lost 2 players.
And they continued to drop after that.
Now we have 5 "players" but really only 2 are posting > David and Octavio.
And with that...